Domestic travel up in Queensland

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QUEENSLANDERS are travelling more domestically, with overnight business and leisure trips rising 10% pushing up the state's total domestic tourism to $11 billion in the March quarter.

The state figures were released on Thursday as part of a national report showing overnight trips were up 5% to 73 million in the year ending March; with the nation's total tourism spend reaching $50 billion year on year.

Overnight travel for holidays also rose, with trips and spending up 2% to $25.6 billion - making up just over half of all domestic overnight travel expenditure.

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said figures released on Thursday were a positive sign that the nation's tourism industry was finally picking up after the global financial crisis.

"The fact we are now seeing results reach pre-GFC levels for domestic travel is excellent news for Australia's tourism industry, particularly since the high Australian dollar continues to make international travel attractive for Australians," he said.

"The growth we have seen in domestic overnight travel was underpinned by an increase in people travelling to visit friends and relatives. These trips were up nine per cent to 25 million, which lead to a 16% increase in expenditure, taking it to $10 billion for the year ending March 2012.

"Queensland, in particular, has registered good growth with overnight trips increasing 10% and expenditure growing 17% to reach $11 billion signifying a rebound from last year's natural disasters and efforts by Government and industry to get tourism back on its feet.

"Increasing domestic tourism is part of the focus of the industry's Tourism 2020 strategy.

"Domestic tourism directly contributes $25.1 billion to Australia's GDP. It is not only the backbone of Australia's tourism industry, it is particularly important for regional areas where tourism is a great source of local employment."

There was also significant growth in business travel with trips up 10% to 14 million, and spending rising 24% to $12 billion.

DOMESTIC TRAVEL:

Overnight travellers spent $25.9 billion in regional areas in the year to March

Day trippers spent $9.5 billion in regional areas in the same year

Overnight visitors to New South Wales spent 60% of their money in regional areas.

Overnight visitors to Queensland spent 56% of their money in regional areas.